Reasonable Outdoor Mobile Robot

A low-cost outdoor mobile robot platform for individual developers, built with direct-drive wheel motors and a battery pack for outdoor navigation experiments.

Wheeled
Open source
ROS 2
3D printable

Suggested by Robotheca, created by @hijimasa (opens in a new tab), from github.com/hijimasa/reasonable-outdoor-mobile-robot (opens in a new tab). Pinned to commit c09d5a7 (opens in a new tab).

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Hardware license: MIT (opens in a new tab)
Software license: MIT (opens in a new tab)
Commercial use: Allowed

Reasonable Outdoor Mobile Robot, photo from its repository — Photo:@hijimasa (opens in a new tab)MITsource file (opens in a new tab)

3D preview converted from github.com/hijimasa/reasonable-outdoor-mobile-robot at c09d5a7, under MIT. View the original files from GitHub (371 KB) (opens in a new tab)

What it can do

Written by Robotheca from the project's documents.

Outdoor mobile robot platform intended for Tsukuba Challenge and Nakanoshima Challenge style autonomous navigation tests
Drives on wheels fitted to Direct Drive Tech motors, with a motor-level controller for drive
Emergency stop and brake release implemented in a separate controller independent of the control PC
Driven with ROS and ROS2 controller packages referenced in the repository
Velocity feedback mode of the older M1502D_211 motor firmware is unstable; open-loop mode with PID inside the Arduino is used instead, requiring parameter tuning

Bill of materials

This repository has no parts list Robotheca can read yet.

Build guide

The guide appears here as you scroll.

Guide by @hijimasa (README.md), under MIT. The English translation is by Robotheca, shared under the same license.

Wiring and electronics

Notes written by Robotheca from the project's documents.

Main parts

Direct Drive Tech wheeled motors (older M1502D_211 firmware noted)
Arduino-based motor controller for emergency stop and brake release
Two 12V 20Ah lead-acid batteries in series providing about 24V 20Ah
Control PC running ROS or ROS2

Connections

Schematic shows the platform wiring: the motors connect directly to the power supply and the Arduino
The Arduino runs independently of the control PC

Schematics, boards and diagrams

schematics/schematics.pngDiagram

Project information

Difficulty: Intermediate
Estimated cost: Not stated
Buildability: 50/100Buildable with some effort
Parts: –
Tools: 3D printer

Buildability50/100

Buildable with some effort

How complete the published files are for rebuilding this robot, measured by Robotheca at commit c09d5a7. It isn't a rating of the robot.

3D and CAD files20/20
3 printable parts (STL, 3MF), 11 CAD source files.
Robot description0/15
No URDF.
Add a URDF: the robot can then be seen in 3D and tried in the browser.
Parts list0/20
No parts list in the repository or linked.
Most points to gain: Link to your parts list, or add it to the repository (a CSV or a Markdown table) with quantities, prices and where to buy each part.
Software15/15
Code in this repository, instructions to install or run it, built on ros2.
Documentation5/15
README of 1,160 characters with 1 picture; 0 build steps.
Write a README of at least 1,500 characters: what the robot does and how to build it. Split the build into at least 3 steps.
Simulation0/5
No simulation files.
Add a simulation model (MuJoCo, Gazebo, Webots or Isaac).
Licenses10/10
Hardware: MIT; software: MIT.

Software

Framework: ROS 2
Languages: C++
License: MIT

The code

How to run it

Written by Robotheca from the project's documents.

Use the tools folder utilities to change motor IDs and check motor firmware before use
Flash the Arduino motor controller project from the tools folder
Install the reasonable_outdoor_mobile_robot ROS or ROS2 controller package on the control PC
Tune the Arduino PID parameters for your robot when using open-loop mode

Robotheca doesn't review code. Read it before running it.

Project files

Every file of the project: code, CAD, electronics, guides, at commit c09d5a7.

Community

Questions and improvements go to the creator's repository.

Photo and 3D model